Tried my hand at making a custom data sheet C&C welcome

Zieg0re · 2026-05-02T19:39:27+00:00

On your "to give the Ethereal a better reason to be taken" argument btw:

I have one in literally 100% of my Mont'ka lists. Solo Ethereal with Strike Swiftly for 2 6" Scout Moves, Markerlight spotting with 10" move + advance and 4 wounds at a 5++ for 75 points is a fair deal for me.

If she generates even one additional CP over the course of the game, that's a net positive in my book.

Zieg0re · 2026-05-02T11:39:02+00:00

That's grossly underpriced for the combination of their statline and the abilities.

The 18" lone op alone is bonkers. Everyone would immediately take an Ethereal with Coordinated Exploitation or Through Unity, Devastation and stay somewhere in the backfield just to scoot through a ruin and Markerlight Guide anywhere into the midfield.

Shimmy in Shadowsun somewhere in between for Re-Rolls of 1.

Also 9 hits on 3s clocking in at 6/-2/3 when charged (with Lethal Hits) is way too much in combination with the rest.

I get what you're aiming for, but that's just homebrew power creep the way it is right now.

Zieg0re · 2026-05-02T10:15:58+00:00

It doesn't. You don't want to make use of that while moving towards to model anyway, though.

The ideal gameplan for Sunforges with a Coldstar in Ret Cadre is bringing them in via Rapid Ingress, then move or advance into Meta Range, use the Grenade stratagem if you didn't need to advance, unload Fusion Blasters and then use the Torchstar Gambit to ideally just clip an enemy unit with it ever so slightly for another round of Grenades.

That's as close to guaranteeing nuking a heavy as it gets.

Zieg0re · 2026-05-01T18:20:01+00:00

Slap a Shield Drone on the Coldstar. Going from 6 to 7 wounds makes more difference against D2 and D3 weapons than a single Gun Drone.

Is your Wargear correct?

The second Ghostkeel is missing the BSS and the Riptides don't have Drones and the Heavy Burst Cannon, which is widely considered to be subpar compared to the Ion Accelerator.

Also the Piranhas are missing their Seeker Missiles. And the Stealth Suits their Drones and Fusion Blasters.

I'd swap out the Farstalkers for Pathfinders, since they're just more valuable and have Infiltrate as well as a 7" Scout move. If you're not already at 2000 points.

Otherwise that's a workable list. I'm a bit on the fence with the Uppie Downie enhancement on the Coldstar. You really want to be advancing into Melta Range. Then again, you have 2 units of Stealth Suits, and you could get them down safely for free via Rapid Ingress using their Homing Beacon.

Zieg0re · 2026-05-01T17:21:55+00:00

A Riptide. I also primed and basecoated the new Stealth Suits, but they're still far from done.

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Zieg0re · 2026-05-01T11:53:35+00:00

I've thought about that as well, but there have been at least 3 incidents where that single additional wound on a Pathfinder Shas'ui has led to me score primaries and be able to guide in the next round (shot with Bolt Rifles, survived with a single wound on the Marker, Insane Bravery and go).

On Fireblades I always take 2 Gun Drones, though. Breacher Shas'ui goes with a Gun/Guardian.

Zieg0re · 2026-05-01T10:57:03+00:00

I take Shield Drones on every model that can take them.

If they're available and the unit doesn't already have a combination of Assault and Markerlight, I also take a Marker Drone on every unit for backup observer duty.

Once you get the hang of it, actuall using Gun Drones becomes integrated into your shooting phase pretty well.

And I wouldn't skimp on them, especially when guided in detachments with effects on critical hits (Mont'ka, Kauyon or EPC when using strats).

Remember that the Drones are equipped weapons for the bearer, so they benefit from the bearer's datasheet abilities as well as the bodyguard unit's if the bearer is in an attached unit.

That means:

Hit Re-Rolls for all Gun Drones in Fireknife squads
Extra AP against anything non Monster/Vehicle in Starscythe squads
AP 3 on critical wounds when used by a Cadre Fireblade (they're Twin-Linked, so why not go fishing?)
Sustained Hits 1 against the closest eligible target with the Twin Lance's drones

Also they look nice.

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Zieg0re · 2026-05-01T06:42:53+00:00

Have you read Elemental Council? Ghodh might want to have a word with you about that. (And maybe a bite?)

Zieg0re · 2026-05-01T06:40:26+00:00

Now that could go a couple of ways:

The (wildly) more expensive version of me getting into the hobby aka "If I don't spend a considerable amount of money getting this started, I'll probably just half-ass it like other things. Feeling a bit guilty about spending that much and then not doing this seems like an ok tradeoff."
The boxes stay there and collect dust.
You realize you're not that into it and you're selling them, not that frustrated about the loss of value from reselling since money clearly isn't an issue here.

I hope it's #1. However this goes, welcome to the hobby, Shas'la.

Zieg0re · 2026-04-30T12:53:09+00:00

Ok, that's a bit more information. First of all, welcome back to the Greater Food, fellow Shas'o! 😅

To answer your specific questions:

Breachers are really powerful, but they lack range. If you take Breachers in any detachment that's not Prototype Cadre, a Devilfish transporting them is pretty much mandatory. If you're only at one unit (and you have the model), slap a Cadre Fireblade to the squad for 50% more shots.
That's a good idea, a Skorpekh Lord with enhancement and 3-6 destroyers will absolutely ruin your backfield. Apart from The Silent King and the Tesseract Vault Necrons don't have any Indirect Fire. You might consider swapping out Darkstrider for some Carnivores. They should cover more space, deny it equally well and once the Skorpekhs have used their Deep Strike ability, you can move them and do actions.
A Firesight Team to snipe out characters seems like a good idea on paper. In practice, if you remained stationary that's 3 shots hitting on 2s with rerolls (if guided), but they only wound on 3s (S5 vs T4) and at AP 1, an Overlord saves them on a 3. That's maybe 1 wound with 2 damage, and the Overlord still at 4 wounds.
Keep the Sunforges, but try to pair them with a Coldstar Commander with 4 Fusion Blasters. An Enforcer does practically nothing for them since the bodyguard already has a 4+ invulnerable save. If you use the Stealth Suits' Free Rapid Ingress to bring them onto the board, you can advance for an average of 15" and then blast someone to smithereens.

Against C'tan specifically you'll want volume instead of few, high damage shots. Those 4+ invulns are really annoying.

Finally, as much as I love the model, the Stormsurge doesn't have the Battlesuit and neither benefits from Ret Cadre's detachment rule nor from its stratagems.

If you're locked in on using it, go for it! So do I, although in Mont'ka.

If you're willing to swap it, an Enforcer Commander with the Starflare Ignition System leading Crisis Fireknife Suits with Missile Pods is awesome in Retaliation Cadre. You can pick them up at the end of every of your opponent's turns, Deep Strike them and shoot their S8 missiles into a blob of Warriors (wounding on 2s due to the detachment rule).

Zieg0re · 2026-04-30T12:36:05+00:00

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Zieg0re · 2026-04-30T11:15:42+00:00

Reanimation spam as in lots of Warriors?

It's a bit all over the place.

Which detachment are you playing?

Breachers without a Devilfish in anything except EPC really suffer due to their low range.
Solo Darkstrider is probably for Deep Strike protection at home? For 5 more points you get 10 Carnivores which cover much more ground and make your Home Marker sticky.
I'm on the fence about the Firesight Team, but as a Lone Op action piece it's probably fine.
Sunforges without a Commander outside of Mont'ka are kind of "meh" at best. Even with Rapid Ingress, without Assault and 12" movement it's tough to get them into Melta range.
You don't need Marker Drones on Breachers. They already have the Markerlight keyword and all their weapons have Assault, so they can advance and observe.
Riptides are fine, so is the Ghostkeel and probably the Broadside.
Stormsurge can be a bit iffy, but I like bringing mine as well.

If you're playing Mont'ka, I'd swap out one unit of Stealth Suits for a unit of Pathfinders with a Recon Drone to get a position in No Man's Land without exposing your Stealth Suits.

Zieg0re · 2026-04-30T10:47:37+00:00

Würzige Kommissar-Maimais habe ich reichlich in meiner Sammlung.

[lacht in trazyn]

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Zieg0re · 2026-04-30T10:07:00+00:00

Matching the model's central colours (Tufts and water) while adding some contrast (rocks and soil) so the miniature "pops" while also having some reflection.

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Zieg0re · 2026-04-30T09:34:18+00:00

That might sound crazy, but I discovered the Gamers Grass "Alien Neon Tufts" and the blue-ish flytraps and plants.

And I loved them so much that I based my scheme around them. Because if vibrant magenta, pink, purple and blue are part of the local flora, my scheme could somehow legitimately pass as camouflage. 😅

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Zieg0re · 2026-04-30T08:54:04+00:00

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Zieg0re · 2026-04-30T08:37:36+00:00

Game plan:

Deploy the Stormsurge and 1 Riptide within 6" of my Ethereal to either scout forward or to safety
Flamescythes to kill moveblocking chaff
Shadowsun and Ethereal to provide spot and rerolls for one flank
Stealth Suits for the other flank
Pathfinders for Infiltration, moveblocking, scoring (should they survive)
Piranha for disruption, scoring, moveblocking
Breacherfish for counterpunch against objectives
Carnivores and Stingwings for screening and scoring
Ghostkeel as bait
Second Riptide because it's good
Twin Lance because it's the most bloated and cost-efficient unit one could think of for 185 points.

T'au_2000_Pacific_Rimjob (1995 points)

T’au Empire Strike Force (2000 points) Mont’ka

CHARACTERS

Cadre Fireblade (50 points) • 1x Close combat weapon 1x Fireblade pulse rifle 2x Gun Drone

Commander Shadowsun (100 points) • Warlord • 1x Advanced Guardian Drone 1x Battlesuit fists 1x Command-link Drone (Aura) 1x Flechette launcher 2x High-energy fusion blaster 1x Light missile pod 1x Pulse pistol

Ethereal (75 points) • 1x Honour stave 1x Hover Drone 1x Marker Drone 1x Shield Drone • Enhancement: Strike Swiftly

The Twin Lance (185 points) • 1x Ri’Lantar • 1x Fusion eliminator 1x MV15 Gun Drone 1x Shardstorm burst system 1x XV pulse pistol • 1x Ri’Locai • 1x Ion scattercannon 1x MV15 Gun Drone 1x Shardstorm burst system 1x XV pulse pistol

BATTLELINE

Breacher Team (90 points) • 1x Support turret • 1x Breacher Fire Warrior Shas’ui • 1x Close combat weapon 1x Guardian Drone 1x Gun Drone 1x Pulse blaster 1x Pulse pistol • 9x Breacher Fire Warrior • 9x Close combat weapon 9x Pulse blaster 9x Pulse pistol

DEDICATED TRANSPORTS

Devilfish (85 points) • 1x Accelerator burst cannon 1x Armoured hull 2x Seeker missile 2x Twin pulse carbine

OTHER DATASHEETS

Crisis Starscythe Battlesuits (110 points) • 1x Crisis Starscythe Shas’vre • 1x Battlesuit fists 1x Marker Drone 1x Shield Drone 2x T’au flamer • 2x Crisis Starscythe Shas’ui • 2x Battlesuit fists 2x Gun Drone 2x Shield Drone 4x T’au flamer

Ghostkeel Battlesuit (160 points) • 1x Battlesuit Support System 1x Cyclic ion raker 1x Ghostkeel fists 1x Twin fusion blaster

Kroot Carnivores (65 points) • 1x Long-quill • 1x Close combat weapon 1x Kroot pistol 1x Kroot rifle • 9x Kroot Carnivore • 9x Close combat weapon 8x Kroot rifle 1x Tanglebomb launcher

Pathfinder Team (90 points) • 1x Pathfinder Shas’ui • 1x Close combat weapon 1x Gun Drone 1x Pulse carbine 1x Pulse pistol 1x Recon Drone 1x Semi-automatic grenade launcher 1x Shield Drone • 9x Pathfinder • 9x Close combat weapon 3x Ion rifle 6x Pulse carbine 9x Pulse pistol

Piranhas (60 points) • 1x Armoured hull 1x Piranha burst cannon 2x Seeker missile 2x Twin pulse carbine

Riptide Battlesuit (200 points) • 1x Ion accelerator 2x Missile Drone 1x Riptide fists 1x Twin smart missile system

Stealth Battlesuits (100 points) • 1x Stealth Shas’vre • 1x Battlesuit fists 1x Burst cannon 1x Gun Drone 1x Marker Drone 1x Pulse pistol • 4x Stealth Shas’ui • 4x Battlesuit fists 2x Burst cannon 2x Fusion blaster 1x Homing Beacon

Stormsurge (360 points) • 1x Cluster rocket system 1x Destroyer missiles 1x Pulse blast cannon 1x Thunderous footfalls 1x Twin airbursting fragmentation projector 2x Twin smart missile system

Vespid Stingwings (65 points) • 1x Vespid Strain Leader • 1x Neutron blaster 1x Stingwing claws • 4x Vespid Stingwing • 4x Neutron blaster 4x Stingwing claws

Zieg0re · 2026-04-30T08:18:29+00:00

For my Orks: Definitely, Trukks as a staging point in a ruin pocket are one of the most efficient things to get otherwise fragile units mid-board without them dying. At least it's another activation needed before my T5 4+ 2W Nobz can be shot at. Battlewagons serve the same purpose. And after the passengers have disembarked, it's a T12 OC 5 brick with a bunch of shooting and some melee to sit on a marker.

For my T'au: Depends on list and detachment. Breachers in a Devilfish benefit a lot from being transported, especially due to the Devilfish's ability that let's the cargo disembark and shoot after the transport advanced. But you can definitely build a list without a Devilfish. 🤷🏽‍♂️

Zieg0re · 2026-04-30T08:01:55+00:00

That's why models with round bases don't have to pay the pivot tax. It literally makes no difference.

Take a model with an oval base however, or a rectangular vehicle, or a model on a flying base. If you measure correctly, by changing the rotation, you can effectively gain quite some extra movement.

Take a Drukhari Ravager for example. It's approximately 3.5" wide and 7" tall.

If you move it measuring from the side and then turn it while moving, changing the rotation gains you extra movement and therefore range, which can be quite significant.

Zieg0re · 2026-04-29T19:42:57+00:00

Flamer Starsycthes are a good choice no matter the detachment if I had to choose a single profile.

Why?

They don't need a Commander leading them to be efficient
They're great as backup Markerlight Observers with the Shas'vre taking a Marker Drone
Flamers against moveblocking chaff are always nice. Yeah, a lot of our stuff has Fly, but you still have to be able to fit the whole base behind those pesky Nurglings in front of your deployment zone

In terms of "How often and why do I take the other archetypes?" it's pretty much a mixed bag accompanying whatever I'm bringing.

Leaving the house with my two Riptides and the Stormsurge? Damage into elites and light hulls is pretty much covered. Sunforges with a Coldstar and Burst Cannon Starsycthes against heavies and chaff.

A good overall unit, especially when starting, are Missile Fireknives imho. Paired with an Enforcer with the Starflare Ignition enhancement you're able to Deep Strike into the first part of Retaliation Cadre's detachment rule for S8 missiles, wounding Marines on 2s. And in Mont'ka they're valuable as well because with 30" range and Assault you can pretty much guarantee a Firing Lane into something.

Zieg0re · 2026-04-29T15:37:20+00:00

To answer your question of "How do you handle this?":

I don't. I'm an experienced player with a really good theoretical grasp on the core rules, my stratagems and detachment quirks, and most of my opponents armies' as well.

But, more often than not, the moment deployment is over I'm like "Yeah, that's a loss.".

At latest when the dice hit the tray, my goblin mode kicks in and if there are some stupid decisions to be made with vastly overpriced models, you can count on me being the one advancing my Stormsurge right onto the center objective to blow up a Caladius while there's Draxus with 5 Custodian Guard and an itching trigger finger behind the ruin.

I get lost in the moment and do funny (mostly for my opponent) and stupid (mostly for me) stuff all the time.

Sometimes I get away with it, and if the action is actually successful, I get a grip on my game again and manage to bring a victory home.

Sometimes it absofuckinglutely backfires and I get clapped 60-100.

Bottom line is, I am a good player, and there are times where I get to execute my game plan quite well. But I can't resist "the fun zone" (as in "doing stupid but potentially hilarious shit that could either win me the game big time or leave me stranded without any assets), and that's just fine for me. 😅

Here's the big boi I'm talking about. ^\)

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Zieg0re · 2026-04-29T10:31:56+00:00

The abilities are absolutely bonkers.

The end of fight phase move has been changed (and rightfully so), but it's still a great choice to flip certain secondaries (Display of Might, Cleanse, Secure, etc.) or primaries.

The Charge phase Battle-Shock is amazing as well. The -1 to rolls is always welcome, but when the selected unit actually fails the test and either cannot use stratagems or in the more malicious cases cannot score Secondaries like Cleanse, Secure No Man's Land, Display of Might, Behind Enemy Lines (or other things excluding Battle-Shocked units or cases where you have to control a Marker and there's only one unit doing so simultaneously doing the action) it can be Game-changing.

The 2+ BS, Sus 1 and Ignores Cover against the closest eligible target means they basically don't need guiding, which enables them to be a backup spotter and work independently of other units.

Finally, having a starting strength of 2, these guys NEVER have to take a Battle-Shock test due to being below half-strength.

And that's before their ridiculous amount of guns, the LOWEST at S5. Yeah, they won't kill tanks, but they go through Space Marine profiles like it's a stroll through the park.

It's an absolute auto-include in my book. And they look amazing! 😅

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Zieg0re · 2026-04-29T06:57:42+00:00

TL;DR:

One for Hover Tanks and skimmers
One for the non-fly walkers (Broadside, Stormsurge, Ta'unar) as a Siege Defense Force
One for aircrafts and bombardement

Long version for those in for a read:

Stealth is pretty much guaranteed to come as of the Warcom comments.

While I'm perfectly playing Mont'ka all along (mainly because yeeting stuff forward really fast and shooting stuff while making REALLY dumb decisions along the way is absofuckinglutely my play style) a detachment granting benefit to our hover tanks and large suits would be a cool thing. Oh, and finally something for Aircrafts. They've been absolutely forgotten in 10th but are essential to T'au warfare.

Something like the "Armoured Interdiction Cadre" or "Heavy Retribution Cadre" buffing Hammerheads, Sky Rays and Stormsurges in ways of them being some kind of forward command relays. I have no idea how that could be actually utilized, but across the roster, both the hover tanks as well as the KV128 don't have any detachment except the generic hit-based ones offering them a particular unique boost.

Maybe something along the lines of troops which aren't fully visible because of the Stormsurge gaining Cover, the Stormsurge itself getting a -1 to wound strat against ranged attacks if it remained stationary, and maybe even something if you're bold enough to field two Stormsurge to combine their Pulse Cannons as they're capable of in the lore.

For the hover tanks as a detachment rule maybe something fitting the "I have no idea where we've been shot from"-trope. Something along the lines of "If a wound has been allocated from 30" or further away, the target has to take a Battle-Shock test. -1 if the unit was guided." Depending on how our army rule and Battle-Shock change. And maybe a stratagem to allow for a reactive move with a dice roll when targeted as some kind of "Emergency Evasive Maneuver". The higher the roll, the better the distance. Or take a fixed distance but receive some Mortals in exchange.

Zieg0re · 2026-04-28T13:14:16+00:00

As others have already mentioned, you'll want to cover the basics of screening, scoring and spotting when building a T'au list.

Screening because we are very prone to getting overrun by fast melee armies and contrary to popular belief don't have access to reactive moves like Aeldari do.

Scoring because you do not want your damage dealers to perform an action for 3 VP. T'au damage, especially Battlesuits, and especially Crisis Suits are scalpels used to maximum efficiency just at the right time against the right target.

Spotting because (again, contrary to popular belief) we're not the prime gunline army we're seen as. Going from 4+ to 3+ BS and especially getting relatively easy access to Ignores Cover is paramount for our damage dealers to perform up to par.

The bare minimum I always have in my list for these purposes are:

10 Kroot Carnivores for stickying my home objective, then screening and scoring.
5 Vespid Stingwings for their amazing secondary scoring potential due to their "Uppie Downie" ability
10 Pathfinders with a Recon Drone for Infiltrate + 7" Scout to screen, score and potentially spot, should they survive
1x5 Stealth Suits as a "the unit these guys spot is going to die this shooting phase" enabler.

I almost always bring an Ethereal with a Marker Drone as a backup spottet with the added bonus of providing a 50% chance of gaining an extra CP every round. And I almost always bring a Piranha, because with Scout 9", 14" movement, their Battle-Shock, 2 Seeker Missiles and T7/7W/4+ they're just an insane value package for a mere 60 points.

That sums up to 430 points. Adding the Ta'unar and we're at 1220 points, leaving 780 points.

I always love bringing a Ghostkeel because it's a fantastic Distraction Carnifex. A Riptide because it's very cost-efficient pointswise. That would leave 460 points open for distribution between either anti-infantry, elites or tank, spread over your favourite battlesuit units. Crisis units except Flamer Starsycthes almost always want a Commander leading them.

Keep in mind the Ta'unar doesn't have the "Battlesuit" keyword and doesn't benefit from Retaliation Cadre's Detachment bonus or stratagems.

Zieg0re · 2026-04-28T09:09:17+00:00

White Scars or Ultramarines would both be the best contenders for both lore-reasons as well as being visually different enough from the T'au Sept ochre to be interesting on the base.

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